OCTOBER Program

Tuesday, October 22 at 7:00 pm

“MONARCHS AND MILKWEED”

Presented by Stephanie Hazen

Stephanie Hazen moved to Salem, Oregon in 1977 soon after graduating from Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine. In Salem she owned and operated a small animal/exotics veterinary hospital until retiring in 2011. Both Stephanie and her husband Ray Temple are active in Salem Audubon Society and have served in various offices and committees for several years.

A move to the farming country on the outskirts of Salem in 2011 put Ray and Stephanie in touch with Lynda Boyer who produces seeds from native plants for large-scale restoration projects. While monitoring Western Bluebird nest boxes around the milkweed production fields, they counted 25 Monarch butterflies nectaring and laying eggs on those plants in 2015.

This experience caused Stephanie to notify Oregon Field Guide. A videographer from the program came to video the butterflies, and some of Stephanie’s own video made it into the resulting Field Guide story on Monarchs in Oregon.

Fast forward to 2017 when Stephanie and Ray raised, tagged and released 50 Monarchs from their back yard. One of the tagged butterflies was reported that winter in Santa Cruz, California six times. This experience, and the knowledge that the West Coast population of Monarchs has declined to the point the species is being considered for listing as Endangered, has caused the couple to be advocates for the Monarch butterfly.

Since then Stephanie has given her talk entitled “Monarchs and Milkweed” more than 25 times across the state. She will bring both milkweed seeds and plants to the talk for people to establish their own butterfly gardens. Her talk will touch on the Monarch butterfly life cycle, how to raise milkweed, and the Citizen Science project involving tagging butterflies to track their migration to the California coast.